The Santa Series

We finally put up our Christmas decorations last weekend. Lukas hasn't seemed to notice the changes, but I have! The lights on our little Christmas tree, listening to Christmas music and all the festive candles with their warm glow have lifted my spirits a bit. It's a very special time of year when we remember how God came to Earth as a tiny infant and this year that miracle means more to me than any other as we have our very own baby boy in our midst.

Our friends lent us a baby Santa costume last weekend so we took a few photos of Lukas while he was wearing it. He looks pretty cute, don't you think?!

"You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry, You Better Not Pout I'm Telling You Why...
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town!"

Yummy! Even Better Than Candy Canes!

Like a Reindeer Caught in the Headlights

Look What I Can Do!

Weekend Visit to Wachenheim, Germany

We traveled to Germany by car this past weekend to be present for the baptism of our niece, Sophia Roth. This was Lukas' first time in Germany, first time meeting his cousin and his German aunt and uncle, and his first car trip over an hour so it was a big weekend for him!

The drive was 5 and 1/2 hours including a 1 hour break for a meal. Lukas was a star traveler. He slept pretty much the whole car trip! He woke up only to eat and otherwise was content the rest of the time to stare at his surroundings and put himself to sleep in his carseat. However, the nights in the same room with us were a very different story. We continue to deal with digestion issues that wake Lukas several times during the night (and most of his naps at home), but we seem to be slowly moving in the right direction. We're still praying that Lukas will consistently be able to have peaceful, uninterrupted sleep at nighttime before Christmas. Lukas has only had two other nights where he's slept a long stretch on his own in addition to the night I mentioned in my last blog entry. We're hoping that number will drastically increase soon. We believe God can do that if it's His will.

Other highlights of the weekend were spending time with Olli's family and meeting Sophia. Sophia is a very precious little girl. She is only 5 and 1/2 weeks younger than Lukas so it will be fun for the two cousins to grow up together and hopefully become great friends and playmates.

P.S. I am a big fan of her "wild" hairdo! Her dark hair seems to have a mind of its own as it doesn't stay down no matter how hard her parents try.

Lukas hanging out with Opa

Lukas and Sophia with Oma and Opa

The Big Event: Sophia's baptism
(The special gown she's wearing was first worn by her great grandma in the early 1900's and then by almost every member of her extended family after that. Here she is with her mom, dad and maternal grandparents.)

Lukas having dinner after his cousin's baptism.

New Developments and Milestones

The last two weeks have brought a lot of new developments and changes for Lukas. His digestive system seems to be slowly repairing itself as we've seen some improvements in that area the last few days. Lukas still has some difficulties to work through, but he has been sleeping better during the day as well as during the night, for which we're very thankful and hope will be a continuing trend.

About a week and a half ago, Lukas stopped having a middle-of-the-night feed, which was wonderful. However, he was still waking frequently during the night with digestive troubles and sometimes was not able to resettle on his own. Last night was the first night that Lukas slept from 11:30P.M. to 7A.M. without needing me to come into his room and help him resettle! I heard him wake up a few times, but he was able to put himself back to sleep each time. We'll see if he can repeat such a feat tonight! We're continuing to pray for healing and are encouraged that the process is indeed underway.

Lukas has also learned how to give social smiles! He usually only does them for Mom and Dad and they take quite a bit of coaxing at times, but he is capable of flashing smiles and cooing for several minutes at a time if you catch him in a good mood :-) We have yet to capture a true smile on camera so there's something you have yet to look forward to seeing!

The following photos are evidence of some of the other milestones Lukas has reached in the last two weeks as well as just a few "fun ones" that his Mommy threw in.

Lukas can now hold his head up quite high and for quite long periods of time while on his tummy.

He's also able to sit up on the couch without the help of my green-checkered Boppy pillow.

This is Lukas who was smiling just seconds before I pulled out the camera, but was so entranced with the flashy silver object in front of his face that the smile vanished only to be replaced with a bewildered, "what's that?" sort of look.

Lukas is "hanging out" with his squeaky toy, Sophie the giraffe, amongst the other dangly toys on his Baby Gym. The other day, he figured out how to hold Sophie by her legs so that he could suck on her head! Apparently, giraffe tastes delicious!

"Raise Your Hands if You Want to Go on a Walk!"

Lukas is wearing his snowsuit for the first time and was so toasty and warm when we put it on that he fell asleep in his stroller even before we left the house!

Look at that adorable baby in the bathtub! Isn't he cute?

Lukas at Two Months Old

Well, Lukas is officially two months old (as of yesterday) and what does he get as a birthday present? Vaccinations of course! Although his "gifts" were a bit painful and caused him to cry for a little while, he was able to later muster up a smile (although not really at anyone in particular) as shown in a few of the photos below. He definitely has grown a lot in his nine weeks of life! He's off the charts weight-wise, but the pediatrician says this is fine as he will lose his "baby fat" once he's more mobile. (I assure you he isn't quite as large as the photos below make him seem...I think it's a combination of his clothes, position and camera angle that make him look even more chunky than he actually is. :-) )

He's grown more than just physically this last month. Some of his new "tricks" are batting at his friendly animals hanging over his head on the Baby Gym, cooing, following us and other objects with his eyes a full 180° and he's been attempting very small push-ups (maybe that will turn some of his fat into muscle!). He's working on a true social smile at the moment--sometimes we think we see one, but we can't get him to repeat it and he isn't always looking at us when one flashes across his face, so we've concluded that it's most likely gas or hunger.

The sleeping issues he had at three weeks have only become worse and they seem to be related to digestive discomfort. We've tried several different things attempting to relieve him from pain, but none has yet really worked. The doctor calls it colic and says he'll grow out of it at about 3 months of age. If that's the case, we've got one more month to go! We're praying that it will be a faster recovery as that seems like a long time from now. However, when he's not overtired and in pain, he's a sweet little guy and we are anxious to have him be able to show that side of himself more often! His complete healing would be a great Christmas gift for all three of us.

Lukas and Mommy Hanging Out

Look! A Smile...

What's Up Homey?
(All he needs is a little Bling to complete the look)

Get Down and Boogey!

What? You Want Me to Smile? I'm Not Sure About That.

Visit with Yiayia and Grandpa

My parents were here in Geneva last week so Lukas got to meet his other set of grandparents. It was a wonderful week and they both were a big help to us by doing the typical meal-making, grocery shopping, cleaning etc. as well as spending plenty of quality time with Lukas when bathing him, playing with him and putting him to sleep. One of the greatest highlights (for me at least) was when my parents stayed with Lukas overnight and I got nearly 7 hours of sleep in their hotel room!! That sure was a special blessing.

We also had several doctor's appointments while they were here--two for Lukas and one for his Mommy. We're happy to report that all is well with both of us!

Here are a few photos that we took to commemorate some of the special moments. Enjoy!

Lukas Meeting His Yiayia and Grandpa for the First Time
Just Moments After They Arrived

The Happy Trio Continuing to Get Acquainted

Lukas's First Time in His Snugli Carrier
(Grandpa Took Him on a Two-Hour Walk in the Carrier
and Claims Lukas Slept the Entire Time.
Is that Magic or what?!)

The Little Star Himself All Clean After a Bath

Daddy and Lukas Adoring Each Other

Mommy and Lukas Adoring Each Other

Little Lukas Snoozing on His Beautiful Cross-stitched Quilt
with the "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" Poem
(Fitting, Don't You Think?)

Besuch von Oma und Opa

A little over a week ago, Olli's parents came to visit us and meet Lukas. It was a huge blessing to have them here as they were a big help to all three of us--cooking meals for the family, doing some laundry, taking Lukas on walks (sometimes twice a day!) so Mommy could sleep and most importantly (to Lukas at least) providing lots of loving entertainment and play for the baby of the house.

As you see from the photos below, Lukas really enjoyed his time with his Oma and Opa.

Bathtime with Opa

Opa Giving Lukas "Raspberries" on His Belly

Bathtime with Oma

Cuddling with Oma

Opa Giving Lukas His First Fennel Tea
(Lukas wasn't sure he liked the taste!)

Oma Giving Lukas Mamma's Milk in a Bottle
(Lukas liked this taste much better!)

The Baby of the House

"The Baby" Getting Vertigo

"The Baby" Sporting Booties Made By Oma's Friend

The Proud Grosseltern

The Höltje Men

The Entire Höltje Clan

Lukas at 3 Weeks Old

Well, Lukas seems to be "coming into his own" now and has asserted between his 2-week-birthday and his 3-week-birthday that he doesn't want to go to sleep. He has trouble settling for naps and occasionally can't get back to sleep after a middle-of-the-night feed, which is especially not fun for his mommy!

Inspite of this new-found stubborn-streak, he still is pretty cute--at least his Mom and Dad think so! Here are some recent pictures of him striking poses for the camera...

"Please, Mom. I Said No More Pictures!"
(Practicing for When the Paparazzi Chase Him)

"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep"
(Mom Wishes!)

Sooo Big!

Talk to the Hand!

Hallelujah!

Lukas's Version of Blowing Raspberries

Sittin' Pretty (Lukas and His Double Chin :-) )

Practicing His Driving Position

Here are some photos from our first weekend at home...

In celebration of the Rugby World Cup being hosted in neighboring France, we donned our black and white colors in support of the New Zealand rugby team the All Blacks. Olli and Lukas are actually wearing All Blacks jerseys.

Lukas and Daddy having some Father/Son bonding time.

A greeting from Lukas with a flap of his sleeve and a sweet (but accidental) smile.

Lukas discovered his own reflection for the first time and stared and cooed at himself in the mirror for a good 15 minutes.